South Africans Justin Harding and George Coetzee and French player Mike Lorenzo-Vega on Friday shared the second-round lead at the Qatar Masters after all three shot four-under 68s for the second straight day.
The trio top a tight leaderboard at eight-under, with 12 players within two shots heading into the weekend at the Doha Golf Club.
“I’m just happy to be playing some better golf,” said Coetzee, who has four top-10 finishes at the tournament, but has never won.
“I guess I made a bit of a mind switch and started focusing a little bit more on what’s going on at the moment instead of where I want to be in a couple of years,” he said. “I was in contention seven years go and I still haven’t won this thing, so I guess I don’t know the magic recipe, but I’ll be looking for it over the weekend.”
Lorenzo-Vega, playing in the day’s opening group, made five birdies and a bogey to set the early pace.
Harding also followed with five birdies and a bogey, while Coetzee played a bogey-free round.
First round coleader Adri Arnaus of Spain shot 70 to tie for second with England’s Oliver Wilson, South African Erik van Rooyen and Japan’s Masahiro Kawamura, who all shot 68s to finish one shot behind.
Belgian Nicolas Colsaerts and Scotland’s Richie Ramsey were in an eight-player group at six-under after both finished with 70.
US track and field athletes have about four dozen pieces to choose from when assembling their uniforms at the Olympics. The one grabbing the most attention is a high-cut leotard that barely covers the bikini line and has triggered debate between those who think it is sexist and others who say they do not need the Internet to make sure they have good uniforms. Among those critical or laughing at the uniforms included Paralympian Femita Ayanbeku, sprinter Britton Wilson and even athletes from other countries such as Britain’s Abigail Irozuru, who wrote on social media: “Was ANY female athlete consulted in
Four-time NBA all-star DeMarcus Cousins arrived in Taiwan with his family early yesterday to finish his renewed contract with the Taiwan Beer Leopards in the T1 League. Cousins initially played a four-game contract with the Leopards in January. On March 18, the Taoyuan-based team announced that Cousins had renewed his contract. “Hi what’s up Leopard fans, I’m back. I’m excited to be back and can’t wait to join the team,” Cousins said in a video posted on the Leopard’s Facebook page. “Most of all, can’t wait to see you guys, the fans, next weekend. So make sure you come out and support the Beer
Former US Masters champion Zach Johnson was left embarrassed after a foul-mouthed response to ironic cheers from spectators after a triple bogey at Augusta National on Friday. Johnson, the 2007 Masters winner, missed the cut after his three-over-par round of 75 left him on seven-over 151 for 36 holes, his six on the par-three 12th playing a big role in his downfall. Television footage showed Johnson reacting to sarcastic cheers and applause when he tapped in for the triple bogey by yelling: “Oh fuck off.” Such a response would be considered bad form in any golf tournament, but is particularly out of keeping
Taiwan’s Lee Jhe-huei and Yang Po-hsuan on Saturday won the men’s doubles bronze medal at the Badminton Asia Championships in Ningbo, China, after they were bested by the hosts in their semi-final. The Taiwanese shuttlers lost to China’s Liang Wei Keng and Wang Chang, who advanced to yesterday’s final against Malaysia’s Goh Sze Fei and Nur Izzudin. The Chinese pair outplayed Lee and Yang in straight games. Although the Taiwanese got off to a slow start in the first game, they eventually tied it 14-14, before Liang and Wang went on to blow past them to win 21-17. In the second game, Lee and